Tom Petty’s Southern Accents: A Tale of Struggles and Triumphs

LOS ANGELES, April 4, 2025 — The journey of creating Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ 1985 album, Southern Accents, was fraught with challenges that tested the limits of the band members both physically and emotionally. These difficulties paint a vivid picture of how Murphy’s Law seemed to dominate the album’s production.

One of the most notable singles from the album, “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” had a rocky inception involving Fleetwood Mac‘s Stevie Nicks and Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh. Following the massive success of Damn the Torpedoes in the late 1970s, the band faced the darker side of the rock lifestyle during the tumultuous production of Southern Accents.

Throughout recording sessions, various personal and professional crises emerged. Notably, guitarist Mike Campbell faced a life-altering incident when he accidentally ingested a substance he thought was cocaine. He shared his experience, emphasizing, “It shut my stomach down, and it was kind of a wake-up call for me.”

Similarly, Petty found himself in the emergency room after a heated studio session left him with a seriously injured hand. After hours of frustration with the same song, he punched a wall, resulting in severe broken bones. “All of a sudden, I got Mickey Mouse’s hand,” he recalled. “I had to be given electroshock therapy. The electrodes would force my hand to shut because it hurt so bad.”

Despite numerous complications, Petty and his bandmates persevered, and they eventually succeeded in delivering some of the album’s biggest hits. The lead single “Don’t Come Around Here No More” was crafted after a heated night in the studio with Nicks, Petty, producer Jimmy Iovine, and Eurythmics‘ Dave Stewart. Petty originally penned the song for Nicks after overhearing a heated argument involving her and Joe Walsh.

After Nicks left early one night, Petty laid down a vocal track that she found impressive, leading her to withdraw from the project. “Because I was extremely selfish and spoiled rotten, I got very angry and fired everybody and stormed out,” Nicks stated, ultimately conceding the song to Petty. This decision, although filled with tension, resulted in one of Petty’s most renowned tracks. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.